Oliva, Kaat fall short in Hall of Fame bid; Ron Santo gets in

Cubs third baseman Ron Santo has been elected to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame, the Veterans Committee announced this morning during the winter meetings in Dallas.

Santo was named on a whopping 15 of 16 ballots. He batted .277 over his 15-season career. He was a nine-time All-Star who his 342 home runs and five Gold Glove awards.

In order to be inducted to the Hall, a candidate needed to receive at least 12 votes. Former Twins Jim Kaat and Tony Oliva fell short in their bids to make the Hall.

Kaat finished in second place with 10 votes. Gil Hodges and Minnie Minoso tied for third with nine votes each. Olivia was fourth with eight votes.

“It goes without saying the Twins organization is disappointed with the results of today’s Hall of Fame announcement,” Twins President Dave St. Peter said. “We were hopeful this would finally be the year for Tony Oliva and Jim Kaat. Unfortunately, we now turn our focus toward the next Golden Era vote in 2014. Meanwhile, we congratulate the family of Ron Santo and the Chicago Cubs organization on Ron’s richly deserved election into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.”